The service follows on the heels of the firm's rollout of a similar
service, Orientation Costa Rica, that was launched last week.

Adopting the strategy for success that has proved lucrative for the likes
of Yahoo, Excite, Lycos, and AltaVista, among others, international
portal efforts are cropping up, as firms try to replicate the model of
search, packed services, and localized directory assistance that nets
eyeballs, ergo big advertisers.

Another international portal service, 24.com, based in South Africa just beefed up
its offerings by signing on Northern Light's search. The search firm will
provide 24.com's Internet gateway users with access to more than 5,000
publications that are included in queries with its "research engine."

24.com offers users guides to South African restaurants, music, and
entertainment, among other search services.

Orientation Sri Lanka gives users access to a similar smorgasbord of local
offerings. The service also provides access to local Usenet discussions,
Sri Lankan IRC chat channels, news, and travel information powered by
travel publisher Lonely Planet,
among other features.

"Our goal is to make Orientation Sri Lanka the premier one-stop gateway to
information on Sri Lanka," spokesperson Muditha Aghayagunawardhana said in
a statement.

Orientation's services span from Asia and Africa to Central and Eastern
Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East.